Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. Reduces Stock Position in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO)

Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. trimmed its holdings in Altria Group, Inc. (NYSE:MO) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,738 shares of the company’s stock after selling 647 shares during the quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc.’s holdings in Altria Group were worth $457,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in MO. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC purchased a new position in Altria Group in the third quarter worth approximately $231,000. Modera Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 10.0% in the third quarter. Modera Wealth Management LLC now owns 21,461 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,095,000 after acquiring an additional 1,953 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale grew its position in Altria Group by 7.9% in the third quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 388,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,861,000 after acquiring an additional 28,451 shares during the period. Concord Wealth Partners grew its position in Altria Group by 29.7% in the third quarter. Concord Wealth Partners now owns 6,177 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 1,413 shares during the period. Finally, Nisa Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Altria Group by 10.9% in the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 555,228 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,826,000 after acquiring an additional 54,610 shares during the period. 57.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

MO has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barclays increased their price objective on Altria Group from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com upgraded Altria Group from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Altria Group from $54.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price target on Altria Group from $52.00 to $60.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $53.29.

Altria Group Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE MO opened at $55.99 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $94.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.55, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.64. Altria Group, Inc. has a 12-month low of $39.25 and a 12-month high of $58.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $52.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $52.82.

Altria Group (NYSE:MO) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.28 by $0.01. Altria Group had a negative return on equity of 258.72% and a net margin of 46.90%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Altria Group, Inc. will post 5.32 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Altria Group Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, January 10th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, December 26th were paid a $1.02 dividend. This represents a $4.08 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 7.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, December 26th. Altria Group’s payout ratio is currently 62.29%.

About Altria Group

Altria Group, Inc, through its subsidiaries, manufactures and sells smokeable and oral tobacco products in the United States. The company offers cigarettes primarily under the Marlboro brand; large cigars and pipe tobacco under the Black & Mild brand; moist smokeless tobacco and snus products under the Copenhagen, Skoal, Red Seal, and Husky brands; oral nicotine pouches under the on! brand; and e-vapor products under the NJOY ACE brand.